The WASP Team
Who We Are
WASP has a core team of specialists, mainly retired, from various fields, who volunteer their time and bring their expertise together in detailed investigations of water company and regulatory conduct.
Along with an incredible team of volunteers in the field, we conduct water quality sampling and invertebrate surveys.
Desk-based research and investigations are combines with practical field work.
We do what we think the authorities & regulators should be doing, but are not.
The Team
Dedication. Expertise. Passion.
Ashley Smith
Founder & Chair of Trustees
Ash Smith served for 30 years with Thames Valley Police, retiring as Detective Superintendent in 2010.
A former angler, scuba diver, and general outdoors person, he has spent a lifetime in and around waters at home and abroad. He has a lifelong love for the natural world and contempt for injustice. He has been investigating the sewage scandal since 2016 and is the author of several exposés of regulatory capture and failure.
Prof Peter Hammond
Data Analysis & Regulatory Compliance
Peter Hammond is a retired university academic and a campaigner for sewage-free rivers.
He was Professor of Computational Biology at UCL’s Institute of Child Health until his retirement in 2015, where he used artificial intelligence and image analysis to detect brain & facial shape differences associated with genetic disorders and prenatal alcohol exposure. He has campaigned with WASP since 2016.
Victoria Marsh
Legal Support
Victoria Marsh is a solicitor who has held senior positions, specialising in competition and regulatory law, before pausing her career in 2014 to raise a family.
She has been working with WASP since 2019.
Geoff Tombs
Researcher
With 35 years of experience in the print and publishing industry, Geoff Tombs has created and administered WASP's archive and knowledge base since 2019.
He is a tenacious researcher and has specialised in investigating environmental permitting activities and finding the devil in the detail.
Vaughan Lewis
Fisheries Biologist
Vaughan Lewis is a semi-retired environmental consultant with extensive experience of inland waters, having previously served with the National Rivers Authority until 1995. He brings 45 years of knowledge and experience to the team. He has led the development of planning law challenges and Grampian conditions regarding inadequate sewage capacity.
Stanley Root
Financial Analysis
Stanley taught English in London’s East End before retraining as a Chartered Accountant. In 1990, he relocated to Moscow, where he worked for the next 23 years, becoming a PwC Audit Partner in 1999. In 2013, he retired to live by beautiful Lake Annecy before returning to Oxford in 2021.
Working with WASP since 2022, he has specialised in investigating privatised water company finances, and his work has featured in the Financial Times and on BBC Panorama.
Windrush Again Sewage Pollution is a registered charity (no. 1199418)